6X2 



NATURE 



{Oct. lo, 1878 



ceases when we are told that the German university 

 system, consisting of twenty-one universities and 1,250 

 salaried professors, is carried on at an annual expense of 

 more than 600,000/," At the least, half of that sum and half 

 of the number of salaried workers are devoted to the 

 branches of science connected with medicine. " How is it 

 we have nothing of the kind in England? Is it impossible ?" 

 The answer is, in Mr. Lankester's words, that "the produc- 

 tion of new knowledge cannot go on without the assistance 

 of endowments or their equivalent. It is impossible to 

 name a single case of a man who did not enjoy either a 

 private fortune or an endowment, and yet has added 

 greatly to scientific knowledge. Medicine and the 

 sciences which she protects have most urgent need of 

 endowment for the purpose of supporting men who shall 

 chiefly occupy themselves in the production of new 

 knowledge." Mr. Lankester's words will show how 

 things are managed in Germany : — 



"It is a disgrace to English civilisation that a true 

 university — an endowed university, a university in 

 which new knowledge is continually being produced, and 

 in which men are trained for this work of production as 

 the work of their lives — does not exist in London and 

 in each one of our large cities. I can briefly tell you 

 some of the circumstances which have prevented the 

 foundation of such desirable institutions in this country ; 

 and I will further indicate to you what we may hope to 

 see done in this direction in the future. But first let me 

 give you a sketch of one of these German universities 

 which we so much admire and envy. I advisedly select 

 one situated in a small town — the University of Heidel- 

 berg. Heidelberg is one of the two universities of the 

 Grand Duchy of Baden, Freiburg being the other; whilst 

 at Carlsruhe, in the same state, is an important technical 

 school. The town of Heidelberg numbers but 22,300 

 inhabitants. The university has 61 professors, and, by 

 the last returns, 834 students. Of these, 23 professors 

 and 106 students belong to the faculty of medicine. 

 The government of Baden, by which the salaries of the 

 professors are paid and their number determined, does not 

 consider that this proportion of one professor to every 

 five students is an excessive proportion on the side of 

 the professorial staff. This university was founded nearly 

 five hundred years ago (in 1386), and, like all the German 

 universities, was remodelled and greatly improved at the 

 beginning of this century, whilst since that time its wants 

 have continually been provided for with ever-increasing 

 liberality by the state government. There are now four 

 faculties— that of Theology, that of Law, that of Medicine, 

 and that of Philosophy. The professors are divided into 

 the ordinary and the extraordinary. - The ordinary pro- 

 fessors receive a stipend of about 400/. yearly, besides 

 their fees, which in some cases bring their incomes up to 

 1,000/. When a vacancy occurs in a professorship the 

 state minister invites the members of the faculty in 

 which the vacancy has occurred to name two or more 

 individuals whom they would recommend for appoint- 

 ment. The faculty meets and the name of a professor 

 in some other university is proposed. He is written to 

 and asked whether he will come; he probably replies 

 that he would require an increased salary and a new 

 laboratory; very usually his terms are agreed to by the 

 state minister on the recommendation of the faculty, 

 and he is installed in the vacant chair. Sometimes, of 

 course, a younger and less known man is appointed at 

 a lower salary. As an example of the way in which 

 these things are managed in Germany, let me give you 

 an actual history of what recently occurred at Strass- 

 burg. I quote from an American journal. 'After the 

 transfer of that city to Germany neither pains nor 

 maney was spared to make the university a success. 



For the chairs of the medical faculty rising men were 

 selected, all of whom were known for original research, 

 and had practically proved their ability as teachers and 

 writers. The chair of pathological anatomy was given 

 to von Recklinghausen, one of the most brilliant of 

 Virchow's pupils, who vacated a similar position at Wiirz- 

 burg in order to accept this new position. When the 

 chair of pathological anatomy at Vienna became vacant 

 by the retirement of the veteran Rokitansky it was 

 offered to von Recklinghausen, and the salary proposed 

 was 25,000 francs (1,000/.), or about three times the 

 usual salary of such a professorship. But the Prussian 

 government was quite as anxious to retain Prof, von 

 Recklinghausen as the Austrian government was to obtain 

 him, and asked him to say what he wanted. His reply 

 was to demand, as the condition on which he would re- 

 main, that there should be constructed a large patho- 

 logical institute, in accordance with his plans, and in 

 connection with the hospital — an institute which will 

 cost something like 50,000/., and will require a change in 

 the fortifications. His demand was acceded to, and he 

 is hard at work now in Strassburg.' " 



Prof. Lankester then describes the magnificent arrange- 

 ment in Heidelberg for carrying on all kinds of research 

 by men whose great business is to add to new knowledge, 

 with the minimum of destruction of any kind. Here, 

 among other well-known names, Bunsen, "the most 

 eminent of living chemists," and Kiihne, the physiologist, 

 the author of the text-book as well known in England as 

 in Germany, have their laboratories and class-rooms ; 

 and Gegenbaur is the head of the anatomical institute. 



Other names equally great in original research in the 

 various departments of science and other towns in 

 Germany could be mentioned. "Berlin possesses labora- 

 tories and museums on a palatial scale, and a perfect 

 army of investigators and students supported by State 

 endowments. Leipzig, again, Strassburg, and Munich, 

 are larger and more richly provided than Heidelberg. 

 All the twenty-one German universities, the eleven Aus- 

 trian, the four Swiss, and six or more Russian universi- 

 ties (I do not speak of those in Scandinavia, France, 

 Holland, Belgium, and Italy), are fitted out in the same 

 way. In all, medicine is being advanced and developed 

 by the never-ceasing production of new knowledge." 



"We, in England," as Mr. Lankester goes on to'say, 

 " benefit by this knowledge ; we, in common with the 

 rest of mankind, reap the rewards won by the activity 

 of these noble corporations ; and yet, it is neither 

 more nor less than the fact that we Englishmen do not 

 possess, throughout the length and breadth of our land, a 

 single institution of our own where such work is done." 

 In the three or four institutions where anything like original 

 research is carried on in this country, the endowments, 

 are so inadequate as to seriously hinder anything like com- 

 plete and satisfactory work. " To speak of these institu- 

 tions as taking the place in this country of the vast 

 machinery and resources of the Medical Faculties of 

 Germany would be about as reasonable as to compare 

 the pleasure-boats on the Lake of Geneva with the British 

 navy." 



Prof. Lankester then sketches the state of things which 

 hare come to exist at Oxford and Cambridge. These 

 Universities were founded for the purpose of giving edu- 

 cation in medicine as well as in theology, and endowment 

 after endowment was made by men anxious that the 

 Universities should fulfil their functions with efficiency ; 



